Law enforcement discourage Lancaster County vigilante from confronting men he believes are child predators

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

EARL TOWNSHIP, LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. -- A Lancaster County vigilante says he'll continue confronting and exposing people he believes are child predators.

Even though law enforcement are strongly recommending he stop.

Mr. 17540 pretends to be a 15-year-old girl online, hoping a "bad guy" will take the bait.

He meets them at public places and shames the person on Facebook live.

What he is doing may not be legal, and officials say it is definitely not safe.

“Hey, if you ever answer an ad that says ‘young girl’... don’t f**king do it!" said Mr. 17540.

He’s a grown man, pretending to be a 15-year-old girl online. He calls himself Mr. 17540.

A Lancaster County vigilante who baits men he believes are child predators, posting his encounters with the people online.

FOX43 confronted the vigilante about law enforcement's safety concerns.

“Lancaster law enforcement have come to me and said it’s not safe for you to be doing this…."

"Correct. I think I’m safe, like I said, something happens, something happens, but the people I’ve exposed so far nothing but positive comments and the one lady said that guy was in my house around my kids, so to me, that’s worth it," he said.

Mr. 17540 doesn’t plan on giving it up, despite warnings from law enforcement in the area.

“Whether they are or aren’t engaging in criminal behavior comes to a location and is confronted by a total stranger with a camera, that’s a recipe for disaster," said Brett Hambright, a spokesman with the Lancaster County District Attorney's office.

The DA's office is fearful Justin Perry, Mr. 17540 himself, could become a target of violence.

“You never know if that person is armed and in that heat of panic pulls that firearm," said Hambright.